Do You Want to Discourage Aliyah?

The aliyah salespeople are coming at us fast and furious. Most of them are coming at it from a place of genuine caring. They want us Jews to be in Eretz Yisrael safe from the Jew-hatred in Chutz LaAretz and being part of the holiness of our homeland. I get it. Sometimes, they go a bit overboard but I get that too- there are areas in which I’m very passionate and I’ve gone overboard myself. But sometimes, it goes horribly wrong. 

One of the aliyah salespeople brought up an important point. He said that one “excuse” that people make for not making aliyah is that they’re afraid that their children will go off the Derech. A variation on this is about rabbis who discourage aliyah saying that it’s harder to be a good Jew and stay on that Derech. Naturally, the aliyah salespeople assure everyone that living in Eretz Yisrael gives you exposure to extra mitzvot and an extra level of Kedushah that actually make it less likely to go off the Derech. 

However, what if we look at “off the Derech” in a different way? 

I’ve tried to be a voice for “wannabe olim”- people who want to make aliyah but who have circumstances that make it more difficult or impossible right now. While many of my family and friends in Eretz Yisrael understand these things, not everyone does. 

I wrote a post here a few years ago asking aliyah salespeople to address the concerns of us wannabe olim or at least validate them and start looking for resources that we can actually use. One person responded saying that she worked with refugees who had it much worse and then she said: 

“So please forgive me if I am less sympathetic to Americans who are struggling with their aliyah issues and are requesting our sympathy and help. Perhaps we are wrong to be cajoling you to come live here. Perhaps you are simply not up to it. Living in Israel is a mitzvah d’Oraita, a privilege, a blessing, a dream denied Jews for millennia. It is not a favor anyone is doing for us. Maybe all the suffering needed to acquire it is simply a litmus test for those deserving of the privilege to live here.”

I wonder how many wannabe olim find this as disheartening and discouraging as I did when I read it. 

Then there was a post on Instagram in which I responded by saying that there are practical obstacles and that Jews need to brainstorm and find resources and help wannabe olim get past those obstacles. The responses there weren’t helpful. People offered advice that doesn’t apply to my situation or to those of many other wannabe olim. One of them said that concerns about money and employment come from “lack of bitachon.” As we’re supposed to just pack our bags and hope that we get a bank deposit from Heaven that will pay all of the expenses! And as if we should just go and expect that jobs (along with any necessary certifications) will be ready and waiting! Maybe we should just hope that the bank deposit is big enough that we won’t need to work. Another one of them referred to the obstacles as “excuses” and then said that “no need to make aliyah. Only if it’s what you believe is true.” As if we wannabe olim don’t actually want to make aliyah enough! 

I don’t expect that aliyah might lead us or our children to leave Shabbat, Kashrut, and other more obvious Halachot behind. But if making aliyah leads people into becoming judgmental snobs who can even think these things, let alone say them out loud on social media, then maybe those people concerned about going off the Derech have a good point. That kind of judgmental snobbery is very much off the Derech. Not to mention that if those people want their fellow Jews to make aliyah, they’re actually pushing them farther away. 

I’m still hoping that my family and I can make it Home along with all wannabe olim. And I get that most of the aliyah salespeople really do care. But I urge all of them to take a long and hard look at what they’re saying and doing. Do you really want us to make aliyah or do you want to feel self-righteous about it? Do you really want to help or do you just want to be the hero? And do you really think that getting all judgmental and snobby about it is actually going to inspire ANYONE to make aliyah? 

May Hashem help all of us Jews to not only stay with mitzvot but to stay with mentschlichkeit and come together and may He bring us all Home very soon.